HELEN TALIA

In “The Prophet,” Khalil Gibran speaks of giving and says “It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”  But to what capacity was he speaking when he referred to personal possessions, and did that limit giving to an act of humanity, or can we sum up that the same inference was being extenuated to personal endearments as well. 

Giving Without Judging ~ For those who give without expecting anything in return, they have authentically climaxed to the highest level of humanity that possesses distinct characteristics out of which global awareness and social reform are born.  These individuals do not suffer from the by-products of the “ego,” oftentimes associated with anxieties that seek to gain personal titles and monetary rewards.  Their worldly vision sparks opportunities that create order even out of chaos. 

Rarely people have achieved this level of awareness, because it rests in a state of “reverence,” that has been achieved only by a minority of spiritual leaders such as Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Buddha. 

The common denominator that connected all these individuals was having the capacity to serve the greater good of humanity with a distinct power to mold societies through their ideologies and contributions.  Oftentimes, these individuals were misinterpreted and misunderstood by the societies which they had come to serve, simply because they were ahead of their time, and thus the fruits of their labor were often not seen in their own lifetime.  But their teachings have had profound impact on humanity for generations, one being the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose identity remains to be one of the most sought after phenomena. 

Disparity of Notion ~ Hidden behind the façade of individuals who are enslaved to the “ego” is the constant fear of losing the “momentum,” and thus such individuals hoard, instead of “truly” give.  And in order to survive past their fifteen minutes of fame, they continuously have ongoing unresolved issues that carry negative vibes and harsh remarks towards others.  Seeking to settle scores, they mock, dictate, and put others down in order to feed their own ego and lift up their self esteem.  They stand in judgment of others and put up fences, if for no other reason, simply to divide material possessions and property lines for the fear of the loss of their social statuses.  These individuals purely operate from a physical stance (alone) and their souls vibrate in lower dimensions. 

In a more geographical and political sense, these individuals quickly rise to power, yet are threatened by the same societies which they rule with an iron fist in order to maintain their status quo.  And thus they place borders that divide masses of population which does no good, except fuel war zones and instigate poverty. 

Depletion and Deterioration ~ The myriad affect of individuals who operate from a physical stance (alone) is the loss of the field energy in which we each carry our karma, and dharma, cause and affect of the signals we send out to attract people and things to ourselves, positive or negative.  This form of inquisition, therefore, oftentimes leads to the deterioration of the body and the depletion of the energy.  Thus, a soul that judges becomes depleted, and works in opposition of its purpose, which is to seek benedictions and move closer to becoming more God-like. 

Spiritual Beings in Physical Experiences ~ We are all spiritual beings having physical experiences while seeking infinite possibilities to define enlightenment, but in the midst we get caught between the dualities of the flesh and the soul.  And albeit operating physically in a material world, we are nonetheless called to take accountability for our actions, simply because what affects us on a physical level has a lasting impression on a soul level. 

Physically, we know when we are depleted.  It is when we hit a brick wall where there is nowhere left to go and nothing more to give of ourselves.  This is a time when we are virtually at a loss and become counter-productive, thus a time that calls for physical rest and spiritual meditation. 

The Time and Space Element ~ Just like time, space is another element in which we can create our healing, as well as our suffering.  And thus when we move to press the “pause” button, those around us, in alliance of our lives, quickly move to “hold” the space for us as we venture to rejuvenate our depleted souls and restore our ailed bodies. 

The Secret Place  ~ In the “ Secret Place” we are in oneness with our creator as we go before the altar seeking veneration (adoration), and vindication (justification) for the purpose of our birth. 

In my own work of philanthropy, over time as I was able to tap more into an infinite field of energy, I slowly detached from the need to constantly prove my point of view, and thus relinquished from superficial attachments, including the “ego,” where trumpets were no longer necessary to sound off my deeds.  The end results then become my soul’s purpose as I sought acquaintance with the higher self. 

In our evolution, we not only begin to notice what and who is around us, but as we become more spiritually mature; we know that it is not about us and what we want for ourselves, but more about how we complete the fabric of our life.  Perhaps, the most notable trait of humanity in my field of feminism has always been about sharing of the resources, but mostly breeding a new generation of activists and humanitarians, our only gateway into the future, without milking “personal glory.”  Succession then becomes a legacy out of which an individual achieves immortality.  

Khalil Gibran (1883 – 1931), is a Lebanese-American celebrated international poet, painter, sculptor, writer, philosopher, theologian, and visual artist, most notably known for his poetic-essays of “The Prophet,” (Almutanabbe, Arabic).

October 2009 

Dedicated to my Assyrian nation, which remains between borders. 

Spiritual ascension, not by any particular religious standards, is something that is achieved through the practice of mindfulness, persistently questioning our motives, relinquishing from attachments, facing our fears, and living the truth.

Both, in Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34, it says: “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Ascension, therefore, is the transition to enlightenment, and reaching spiritual awareness is a prerequisite for humanity. 

“The end of all hostility is the beginning of maturity,” Talia 

But in order to transition to this final stage of enlightenment, we must first seek to understand humanity through living consciously, practicing compassion, and becoming a channel for grace.

When we seek a higher vibration, we are in oneness with our environment and united by a collective energy that is based on equality for everyone in the universe.  Thus we do not entertain thoughts of personal gains and hidden agendas, and we no longer discriminate based on social status, gender, or geographical domicile. When we simply become observers, even our foes will soon appear as lessons that were ordained by a higher power to ground us and assure our competence.

In reaching enlightenment, we become free from absorption of words and actions of others as we relinquish from the emphasis of status quo, detach from material possessions, and brake away from physical bondages that hold us hostages to indulging in fleshly cravings such as food or sexual immorality.  Naturally, we begin to feel more reflective of our surrounding, rather than immersed in constantly seeking to prove our point-of-views.

Living Consciously ~ During the progression of our transition, we move closer to the truth and begin to take accountability for our own actions, and place the “whys” before our motives.  We move from observing the truth, to living the truth. And as we become spiritually heightened, we become the holders of the key that allows us to enter the gateway to humanity.

Practicing Compassion ~ Once we have lived consciously, we develop compassion for our environment, as we no longer see ourselves as mere individuals, but as integral members of our societies.  It is here that we become environmentally aware and seek to serve our communities for the greater good of mankind.

Channels of Grace ~ And when we become channels for grace, we inspire peace commissions for developing communities that rest on literacy and humanity.

Finally, the ultimate goal is achieved when we reach global awareness, driven by a common universal force that is unbranded for all cultures and fitting in every generation.  Herein life unfolds its beauty before us and renders opportunities to bridge the gap between civilizations in order for future generations to build on that seed that we sow today ~ starting individually, and then within our communities ~ when we each have truly given of ourselves.

July 2009

In 1819 in the “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” John Keats writes:

“The kiss that is never gained by the lover, though nearing it, will forever be longed for.”

During my senior year of High School, the “Ode” became a prime subject in my life.  Years later, I have come to the realization that I have held on, not only to that same textbook from my English Literature class, but to that very concept, and have in fact used it to my defense on several occasions throughout my life.

Likewise, the impact of a relationship that enters our life can differ in range from momentous to insignificant, depending on the level of involvement and the depth of emotional attachment that we place on a particular person.  Factoring in is also the ingredient that some of us possess more addictive personalities and possessive behaviors than others.  At the end, we are left to ponder upon the following thought:  What about a person draws us to the nearness of that individual, or if someone is simply passing by?

I write this not to be philosophically correct, nor do I hold any professional accreditations in human psychology, but I write it from the greatest teacher of all, life.

How do we resolve within ourselves to celebrate the lives of others who enter ours, without holding them hostage characters in our own chapters?  Recognizing the role of a person in our life can have a pivotal impact on our self-esteem, and shapes our window to the world.  Oftentimes than not, we ignore behaviors that signal unfulfilling destinies, not because we have not learned from previous lessons, but because our doctrines teach us to live in “hope,” and by design we are spiritual creatures having physical experiences, and thus attach ourselves to another soul.  Also, in the hide, we all have our desperate moments and a sense of longing to belong to the culture of love.  And so, we run to renew our subscriptions in the book of love, not realizing that in this instance, this person is not ours to hold past fifteen minutes of fame. 

Learning to let go can be rewarding!  As one person leaves our life, another one enters, the “self.”  Looking inward and loving the self can be the greatest teacher.  Loneliness does not always have to equate to isolation, but a freeing of the psyche and liberating of the emotions when we learn to detach ourselves from the known.  As we move further into the unknown, it is there that silence yields endless possibilities, oftentimes tapping into our creativity.  In fact, it is in these rare moments that some of the greatest discoveries have been made, and the best poetry written.

How far and how fast we evolve past our transgressions when we cease to gain affection from the other person depends on our own individual maturity.  That in the absence of growth we tend to suffer, place blame elsewhere, and look like eccentric characters from a bad novel to those around us.

In homage to Keats’s Ode, I wonder how many of us continue to struggle with fictitious characters versus recognizing the mark in our path.  In hindsight, do some of us set ourselves up for disappointment by engaging in relationships that set us free, because in essence we can not become captives, yet still trapped in our youth feel liberated when we are captivated?  One final question that remains to be answered is to distinguish whether some of us were created to affect the world, and not so much to be affected by those whose paths cross ours.  Perhaps we have graduated and become the teacher, and in our wake did not realize that we have left the student behind.  Where is your thermostat set at?

John Keats (1795-1821), born in London, is considered one of the greatest English poets.  Apprenticed to a surgeon, gave up surgery to write poetry.  Among his famous sonnet is “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer.”

A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience – nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.

Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others.

October 2007

And so I dusted myself off as I walked towards the entrance, thinking to myself “I am going to kill this guy with niceness.”

Being the bigger and better person, I did not show any emotions. But I did notice from the corner of my eyes, that he was constantly looking at me as if waiting for a hostile reaction. But… I kept smiling as if nothing bothered me. Glancing at the young man appearance, his dress code and myself seemed mediocre. And judging from the drawings he was holding, I placed him in the architect industry. I also noticed that he was tall, and his looks didn’t hurt the eyes either :) But he seemed harried - shifting his balance from one foot to the other.

After a few minutes of waiting in line, I conjured up the courage to talk to him, saying, “Long line ha?” And there it was. This was all I had to say to get him to talk. It was like opening a Pandora’s box. He explained his frustrations at the post office personnel and how the post office is understaffed. As the line slowly moved to the front, wouldn’t you know that at the end of the line as he was about to be served, he gestured with his hand and invited me to take his spot. “Are you sure?” I asked twice. “Yes, please,” he continued. I thanked him and wished him a good day as I proceeded to the customer service personnel.

From that day, I don’t question what lies ahead. Seems like whatever may have been bothering the young man on that day, he must have left his attitude in his car. Never underestimate the power of love.

Featured in Innana Magazine 2007

A friend of mine who recently traveled back from the Middle East – Iraq (his native country) and Syria, gave me a cross.  (This was not one of the gifts he had honored me with from his trip, but something that he himself had hand-made).  This morning I woke up and the cross, as it was lying on my dining room table, was staring me in the face.  As I began walking around my house, it did not take me long to see that the perfect spot for it would be above the doorway in my kitchen.  As it is, I have turned my kitchen into a sanctuary, filling it with pictures and prayers of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Virgin Mary, Pope Benedict XVI, Mar Charbel, Al Harisa, and other obituary cards.  I figured since I spend a lot of time cooking in my kitchen (something I love to do), I could use that time to reflect and pray, as well.

And so I went and got my ladder.  Not really!  It’s actually a step stool.  And as I aimed to make a mark on the wall, I noticed that I was holding a nail in one hand, and a hammer in the other, and somewhere between my two hands, I was holding on to the cross.  Immediately, the vision that came to me was that of our Lord’s crucifixion.  But this was more than a vision; it was a deeply seated feeling that came from inside of me.  In the first instant, I hesitated to nail the cross; and in the next what I felt was not necessarily the extent of Jesus’ pain, but an eeriness that I was somehow responsible, ultimately contributing to his crucifixion.  The following moments were ones of deep sorrow and regret for my own contributions to his pain, remembering his last pleads before his father at the Garden of Gethsemane, up until the moment he was stripped from his divinity, right up to when he was laid on the cross and the first nail pierced in his hand, as I hammered the nail into my kitchen wall.  What must have that felt like, I thought to myself?  Afterwards, I immediately gathered a set of dry grape vines that had been given to me by an Assyrian family during this year’s St. Mary’s Feast.  As I gently tucked them into the rope that was tied around the center of the cross (heart), the impression I got was that of a mother planting herself in her son’s heart.  And slowly I thought of the grieve that Jesus’ mother felt at his death ~ a mother weeping for her child, calling “my son, my son.”

Naturally, as one would have guessed, I wanted to express what I had just felt and so I am writing these lines to express my feelings of personal responsibility, the extent of my commitment to my faith as a Christian, and the spirit that dwells, not just in our fleshly bodies, but how it allows us to be joined in the body of Christ through our individual philanthropic responsibilities to humanity ~ oftentimes questioning, are we living in accordance with the teachings of Christ?  More than ever, I am grateful that I have been touched so deeply once again by His grace, and by forgiveness through His birth.  Celebrated worldwide, the birth of the child Jesus is here, reminding us that he came into the world to give us hope, in that after death (khoutama), there is re-birth (khoudata).  And so, Lord, to you I will say “Thank you for teaching us to live by faith, because you were faithful to us first.”

Featured in Innana Magazine November 2006 

I believe in two ideologies – life is not a ride; it does not stop and let us get off.  And I believe that somehow in the healing process, throughout all our transgressions, we connect with people who bring us surprise comfort, people that ‘hold the space for us,’ while we do get off the ride until our spirits mature and return once again to take part in the great realm we identify with as ‘life.’

In my own life, I came to a place of acceptance by humbling myself enough to allow things to simply be.  I allowed pain to co-exist alongside pleasure, turning disappointments into opportunities.  Soon, I became familiar with hills and valleys, and looked forward to every steep fall as much as the green pastures.

How did I eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!  Learning to accept both the good and the bad in life has taught me to co-exist in the ecosystem, to get along with every specie and in every area of my life, and whenever I am in an unfamiliar terrain, being quiet and surrendering is the best lesson I have learned, allowing the opportunity to approach and unveil itself to me, making the experience, not the destination, pleasurable.

Featured in Innana Magazine September 2006 

First of all, lots of love to you!  I love you as an individual and the unique person that you are, and you are lovely.

Do you know when the problem arises?  The problem arises because of the society and its own funny rules, its own interests, which are not necessarily in tune with the individual and her interests.  Therefore, the individual has to be sacrificed.

The individual does not exist for the society. The society exists for the individual, because society is just an institution.  It has no soul.  An individual has the soul.  God resides in the individual, not in the society.  If you will spoil your individuality and be in accord with the society, you will be away from the soul and God, and there will be no peace within.  But even then society will expect you to keep smiling, always, in front of all and act accordingly, like you are a machine for the society.

Rarely have a few individuals been able to escape from this dangerous structure.  These few individuals are the religious rebels - Jesus, Buddha, Krishna.  They tried to live their life according to their nature.  They dropped rules made by society. They dropped all guilt.  They became part of nature rather than part of society.  Nature is vast.  Society is very tiny.  Society is man-made. Nature is God-made.  One should choose God, instead of a man-made institution.

The difference is just like marriage and love.  Marriage is a man-made institution.  Love has nothing to do with man's manufactured institutions.  Love is natural.  Wherever you find society is in conflict with nature, choose nature, whatsoever the cost.  You will never be a loser.  Believe me, you will always gain.  If you choose society, you will always be a loser. The game will be very short term, worth nothing, and you will lose your whole soul.

So this is the basic thing… to move into a new light, into a new consciousness, where you can get out from guilt yourself.  And then many more things will follow.

Dearest, you keep the insight and don't get into the guilt and pressures of society.  Drop it more and more.  It is still lingering there in the unconscious.  Drop it from there also.

My dear, whenever any one complains and tells you that you are not good and our society does not allow this or that, simply say that you are in alliance with nature. And I am sure that by this way you will revolutionize others’ life as well.

Keep going with nature and be what you are. Let the flowers of love blossom naturally in your life and spread the fragrance for others to make them feel your lovely and electrifying presence.  Be an inspiration to more people to live more naturally.

Aha!  Yes, I can smell the fragrance from you it is getting natural now. I can small it right now from here in India. You are you and you are awesome. I love you naturally.

Always seeking the presence of you in the world, to make the world a garden of fragrant blossoms of your natural growth of love.

June 2006 

Featured in Innana Magazine

Oftentimes in our busy schedules, in the shear rush of trying to meet deadlines, we forget to take time out to be alone with ourselves.  The practice of being alone nourishes and restores the soul and the effects of the lack of it can be detrimental to our health and causes depletion to our souls.  One can safely assume that such depletion is caused by the immersion of the natural human state of being with extensive transfer of information to the brain causing sensory overload.  Caused by none other than globalization of the world economy, modern technology has lead to the invention of state-of-the-art communication modes such as the internet and e-mail systems, along with cellular telephones to conduct business, as well as personal affairs, be it at home, office, or in the car.  The daily activities and ‘wanna haves’ have even taken us away from the familiar faces of our families and caused us to create alternatives to re-creating the family structure.  Such alternatives have left our spouses and children to fend off for themselves, all the while making them very needy people.  The busyness, the running here and there, the family and job problems, and the wants (earthly possessions) are all contributing factors to the depletion of the human soul.

The answer to depleted souls lies in the willingness and commitment to making changes, finding alternatives.  Only then can we find restoration to our depleted souls.  The restoration of a soul requires first and foremost achieving sound sleep, in return creating rest.  Through rest we can then achieve a state of mind referred to as reflection.  And while reflecting, centering on positive thoughts helps us relinquish any attachments to negative past experiences that create inner conflict.  Lastly, diversion is a sensible tool to have at your side when restoring the soul.  Divert your attention to simple, yet humble activities such as gardening, fishing, walking and meditating.  Personally, when meditating, I like to center my thoughts on God, making him the center of my life.  On the other hand, although television may be considered a past time, it is, nonetheless, another mode that deters our natural state of being from returning by over-trafficking our minds with pictorial signals.

And if this restoration process takes a bit more time than anticipated, stepping in with a little faith and a bit of patience goes a long way.  Remember that it took years of damage to deplete the soul, and it will take some time for the human system to re-generate itself. 

And the next time you’re out chartering new plains, remember to stick to familiar terrain.

Keep in mind that you are only here for a short time.  And long after you’re gone, the chaos will still be here.

April 2005

Featured in Innana Magazine